“The last quarter moon phase symbolizes the power of an acute awareness of ideals and high standards and implementation of these standards into daily life. Disappointment can occur if these standards are not met”.

8 of Coins

Planetary ruler the Moon

The image for the 8 of C o i n s is renaissance a r t i s t Michelangelo. Michelangelo was a y o u n g contemporary of the f a m o u s artist Leonardo da Vinci. One can't help but think that perhaps Michelangelo may have known da Vinci's work and may have been influenced by him as well as other great minds of the Italian Renaissance.

The idea behind this card is not just the apprentice who learns a skill but of the importance of the apprentice as a physical receptacle of knowledge. The apprentice has the obligation of passing on the skills of the master who taught him. There is also the idea the apprentice will in time mature and surpass his/her teacher enhancing the skill itself. The apprentice is in a way also the final step in the life of his teacher. He is the person who brings his teacher to immortality by using his skills long after the teacher has passed from the physical world. And if reincarnation is possible the apprentice could one day become the teacher of his own teacher passing the knowledge back to his master once again, full circle.

Imagine your greatest teacher. What was it like to be taught by this teacher? If you have had more than one great teacher take a moment to think about each one. What excitement in learning did these people inspire in you? What lessons did you learn and what skills do you still use today? What skills have you passed on to others?

Traditional tarot meaning: the apprentice

In a Reading: This card represents a person who is learning or trying out new skills. It can signify the desire to change jobs or go back to school to learn a skill. It can also suggest dabbling in some new and exciting hobbies. It represents the joy and excitement of creating.

An artist. It fascinate me how an artist can connect to inspiration and transform that inspiration into something beautiful. The artists seems to have a connection between their mind and their hands that is particuliar. They gives shapes to what they see in their mind. It apply to writing too.

The Aeclectic Tarot Forum closed permanently on July 14th, 2017. The public threads remain online as a read-only archive and resource. More information on our decision can be found here. Thank you for being a part of our active community over the past seventeen years.